


Tired

by StellaHope



Category: A Hat in Time (Video Game)
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Sleep Deprivation, Snatcher begrudgingly enters dad mode, but she's pretty comfortable with noodle dad, gotta sleep eventually tho, he's still a soon-deh-rey tho, lotsa crying, noodle hugs cure all ails, please let the child rest, she also has minor selective mutism in this, she's doing her best, she's just trying to save everyone, wow there's actually art at the end
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-20
Updated: 2019-11-20
Packaged: 2021-02-16 00:28:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,456
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21498856
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StellaHope/pseuds/StellaHope
Summary: After waiting an absurdly long time for Hat Kid to come back to continue his Death Wishes, Snatcher finds himself getting worried. No, definitely not worried. He's just bored. He doesn't care about some kid, why would he? She's simply amusing, that's all. He simply takes pleasure in watching her die to his challenges over and over.When footsteps finally approach, however, he nearly has to do a double take at the child now swaying dangerously from side to side in front of him. Her eyes are dull, and her face is horribly pale. She smiles, but he doesn't.She looks like death itself.
Relationships: Hat Kid & Snatcher
Comments: 21
Kudos: 397





	Tired

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, this is my first fic after about a half-year hiatus, so I apologize if I'm a little rusty. I just really wanted to flesh out this soft little idea I had as soon as I saw Snatcher in the ship, and I decided to try my hand at writing again anyway, so this was a really nice experience overall.
> 
> Art at the end is mine as well

The view of the stars from space itself was something that never failed to captivate Snatcher. No matter how many times he came up to the kid’s weird wooden spacecraft, sitting above her absurdly large pool of pillows while he waited for her to come try his death wishes again, he always found himself staring out the window every once in a while. However interesting his law books were, the stars always won the fight for attention eventually. He had his books at home. He did not have a view like this. Well, the top of his tree let him at least get a glimpse of the stars if the weather was clear, but here, floating amongst the glowing bodies themselves, everything looked so much brighter and breathtakingly vibrant.

It made him miss his old telescope. Being able to go out and see the stars and galaxies every night, gazing into his treasured device as if he could reach through the lens and grab them… the kid was lucky for being able to have that all the time, no telescope even needed. He had to admit, he was the slightest bit jealous. Not that he’d ever tell her that, of course.

Speaking of the kid, where in the world was she? It was hard to tell the passage of time here, but he’d finished an entire book and there was still no sign of her. Maybe he should just go back to Subcon at this point. His minions were probably wondering what was taking him so long. But then what if she came back right when he left? ...Or what if something had happened to her? She could be quite reckless, she could’ve gotten herself into trouble. Would she even come back at all…?

Snatcher growled in frustration and poofed his book away with a plume of blue fire, sending it back down to his tree. Of course she was fine. He wasn’t worried. This wasn’t worry that was churning in his nonexistent gut. He was just bored, that was it. His advanced contracts weren’t going to do themselves, after all. It was just amusing to watch her try them over and over again.

As if on cue, he heard the familiar sound of the bedroom door sliding open and closed, followed by approaching footsteps. Smirking triumphantly, Snatcher pulled his gaze from the window to watch the little alien approach his self-proclaimed perch.

“Heyyy, kiddo! Finally back for mo-” his voice caught in his throat as he looked her over, a startling stab of worry shooting through his chest and causing his grin to completely vanish in a matter of seconds.

Hat Kid looked at him with the most tired eyes he’d ever seen on anyone in his entire existence. Her shoulders were drooping so much he feared she might fall forward at any minute, and her slow gait consisted of frequent, short staggers as she made her way along the crimson-carpeted platform. Her normally bright cyan gaze was considerably duller and lacked that energetic sparkle that normally annoyed him so much. However much it bothered him any other time though, its current absence sent a shiver through his entire form that he disliked much, much more. He tried not to let his growing concern show as she came to a wobbling stop in front of him. Her eyes fluttered dangerously as she blinked up at him in confusion.

“K-kid…” he breathed, considerably softer than his normal tone of voice, genuinely surprising himself. “...You look like _death_.”

She looked at him for a moment, seeming to process his words, then simply gave a weak smile. “...’M fine…” she murmured, entirely unconvincingly. Her voice was rough and forced. He didn’t have to hear her talk much to know that.

He exhaled sharply in a laugh of disbelief. “That does not look ‘fine’ in the _slightest_. You look like you haven’t slept in days!” She almost pitched forward suddenly, and he had to bite back a gasp as he reached out to catch her shoulder. “I think you should sit down, kid.”

Hat Kid teetered for a moment, then flopped weakly into a slumped-over sit, letting Snatcher’s hand balance her while she changed position. She blinked a few times, looking at the floor as Snatcher found himself at a loss for words. The place where his heart should be ached painfully as he simply watched her try to stay upright. He hated the feeling. He shouldn’t feel like this. He shouldn’t even care, why did he care? She was just some _kid!_ She invaded his forest and made him agree to that stupid contract, all she was was an annoyance! Why on earth would he act this way? He quickly retracted his hand and looked away from her as he tried to squash the peutrid feelings that swirled inside him, wishing desperately for the normal emptiness that filled his ghostly form.

“...Haven’t…” she mumbled quietly after a long period of silence.

Snatcher’s head turned slightly to glance at her again. “What?”

The little alien refused to look away from the floor as her shoulders hunched slightly, hands fidgeting with the rim of her cape. “...Haven’t slept.” She looked almost ashamed. Like a child admitting a wrongdoing to a parent. It sent another small stab into Snatcher’s chest and he had to physically stop himself from shaking it away. _Don’t feel this way. Don’t CARE about her–_

But instead, despite all his efforts, he found his concerned voice spilling out again. “For how long, kid?”

She was shaking, he noticed as he watched her fidget. Her tiny hands trembled like leaves in the wind, her knuckles starting to pale as she pressed them harder into each other in a desperate attempt to stop the constant shivers. An answer didn’t come quickly. She was nervous. He knew she didn’t want to tell him, and he didn’t blame her. Her eyes squeezed shut as she finally spoke in not more than a whisper. “...T-thirty-four hours…”

Snatcher couldn’t hold back the noise of exasperation that escaped him. He didn’t know much about kids or what they needed, but thirty-four hours without any rest?? Surely that was not healthy in the slightest. Probably not for _any_ living being, but _definitely_ not a child. Without even thinking, frantic words were pouring from his mouth. “W-what on earth were you _doing_ for that long, kid!?” he found himself sputtering. “Don’t you know when to stop? No wonder you look like you’re at death’s door, you’ve been practically _killing_ yourself! Busy for thirty-four hours, you’re gonna beat yourself straight into the grave! What the heck were you thinkin–”

Before he even realized how loud he’d gotten, she was curling in on herself, her arms wrapped around her small frame as she shook even harder. Light caught in her dull eyes, but not as it normally would. The shimmering pools grew more and more, and Snatcher felt a wave of guilt crash instantly over him as liquid suddenly dribbled over the edges and down her quivering cheeks. She was crying. He’d made the kid cry.

Something inside him broke in that moment. A wall around his heart, built thicker and thicker as the countless years dragged on, his shield that kept what was left of his emotions safe so that he might never be hurt again. Some part of it, no matter how small, felt like it was being melted into a burning magma. His expression wavered, and he realized the pain his words had dealt.

And he hurt with her.

“Kiddo…” His arms unconsciously reached toward her, and he felt his suppressed guilt spread across his features. “I’m… sorry.”

Sniffling, she looked up at him, another stream of tears trickling from her tired eyes. As he extended his arms further, hoping she wouldn’t flinch away, her face almost instantly scrunched up with emotion and she fell into his embrace with a wailing sob. Her face was buried in his mane before he had time to react, her fingers tangling into the soft hair and gripping it as if her life depended on it. Snatcher simply looked down at her for a moment as she wept, practically having to drag his memories of how to return an embrace from the depths of his mind, and then gingerly placed one of his claws on her heaving back. She pressed herself even closer to him upon feeling his affirming touch, and he let out a small sigh as he let his hand start to rub in slow, comforting circles. She was warm. That was something he hadn’t felt in a long time.

She whimpered and sniffled a few times, still shivering and soaked in tears. “I-I… I’m s-sorry…” she hiccuped between sobs, “I… I meant to… to stop… but I… I had to… had to keep going…”

Snatcher’s grip tightened slightly, holding the hyperventilating child more securely. “It’s okay, kiddo, it’s okay.”

Hat Kid sniffled again, taking a series of sharp breaths before falling into another bout of sobs, burying her face deeper into his chest. “No.... not okay… not okay…” came her muffled voice between gasping breaths. Snatcher used his other claw to carefully turn her face away, the child taking bigger gulps of air as her face was exposed again.

“Come on, kid, you gotta breathe,” he said as gently as he could manage. She only adjusted her grip on his mane and let out another pitiful noise, curling up further. His ghostly heart ached. The poor kid was only gonna exhaust herself more like this… _Who knows how much more she can even take…?_

With a sigh of defeat, he shifted his grip to hold her with both hands and moved her to sit on what was basically his lap, this time finally letting himself fully embrace her with both arms. Her breath hitched as she was lifted, but as soon as she settled into his protective hold, she let out a shuddering sigh of her own, her ragged gasps finally starting to slow down slightly. He simply held her for a long moment as she started to calm down, letting her grab onto his hair again as she sniffled, trying to get herself under control.

Snatcher broke the silence with a quiet chuckle. “Guess you like hugs, huh kiddo?”

Hat Kid shifted in his arms, her head tilting to gaze up at him. She still looked nervous, and her eyes were puffy from tears now as well as exhaustion, but her body language overall was much more relaxed than before. All she could seem to muster was a small nod and a nearly inaudible “Mmhm…”

He chuckled again, grinning down at her. “Y’know, I think it’s quite literally been _centuries_ since I last hugged someone, so uh… this is _slightly_ different for me.” The corners of her mouth twitched upward just a bit, and his grin grew wider in response. “Not that it’s a _bad_ different… just don’t tell anyone. Or I’ll make sure you never see the light of day again.”

This earned him a quiet giggle, and he laughed triumphantly. When she leaned her head against his chest again, he let his hand continue rubbing her back, and she let out a contented sigh. Snatcher couldn’t help the relief that flooded through him as her sniffles finally subsided.

There was silence for a long moment as she sat there in his lap– a situation Snatcher would never in a million years have expected to find himself in. What a perpetual stream of surprises this child brought. Waltzing into his forest like she owned the place, plowing through his contracts as if they were nothing but normal chores, defeating _him_ and somehow getting him to actually return her soul, making him agree to that _ridiculous_ contract… even getting him to somehow _care_ about her… what an absolute anomaly she was.

Careful not to jostle the little alien too much, he gently tilted his head down to look at her. She was still resting her warm face against his fur-covered chest, her grip on the soft hair more relaxed than it had been previously. Somehow, though, despite how exhausted he knew she must be, her eyes remained half-lidded, stubbornly refusing to close. He hummed curiously, and she pulled her head back to look up at him.

“You okay telling me what you were doing now, kiddo?” A flash of anxiety crossed her face, and he grimaced. He really didn’t know how to be gentle with his words, did he? “You don’t have to… I just wanted to know what was so important that you felt it was necessary to stay awake so long.”

Hat Kid blinked at him a few times, then lowered her gaze to watch her own hand as it fidgeted with Snatcher’s mane. “Time Pieces…” she murmured after a moment. She glanced up at him briefly before pulling her eyes away again. “They’re… dangerous… i-if they’re in the wrong hands.” Her voice lost volume steadily as she spoke, and her fidgeting intensified. She opened her mouth to speak again, but, when no words came out, promptly closed it and sank further into his mane as an uncertain expression covered her features.

Snatcher hummed in understanding as he processed the few words she’d given him– and the fact that it had been any words at all. Even _that_ much was impressive. He couldn’t even remember if he’d ever heard her say more than a couple of words at a time before, so this was a step he wasn’t expecting. But still, she seemed considerably nervous to go on. Which was completely understandable.

“You’ve got a lot of experience with all that, huh kid?” he replied gently, hoping another question would encourage her.

Hat Kid sighed distantly, her warm breath ruffling the fur her face rested on. “Y-yeah…” She paused, shifting her position a bit. “P-people.... people here aren’t familiar with them… so they just…” There was another pause, followed by a deep breath, and she curled up a bit tighter. “...Time Pieces are powerful. When you’ve been a-around them your whole life… like I have… you k-know how to resist… But these people h-haven’t… and t-they just…” She stopped with a shuddering breath, biting back another wave of tears that threatened to spill over. “T-they change… and it’s _dangerous_ …”

Snatcher reached up to carefully brush away a tear she accidentally let escape, and she whimpered pitifully. “It’s alright,” he murmured distantly, guilt beginning to claw at his non-existent gut as he processed the kid’s explanation. “I understand.”

It made sense, now, why he had suddenly been so aggressive over the last magical hourglass in his forest. He’d meant to kill the kid at first, of course, because that was what he always did with his contractors when he was done with them, but watching her do his contracts was so different than any victims he’d had in the past. Even without a soul, she had a spark inside her that was too persistent to be snuffed out. The Manor had been the only thing that really swayed her determination, but… that was understandable. He still felt bad for sending her there. His other contractual obligations, though, she’d taken in stride and pressed onward no matter how much he meant for them to beat her down. That spark was horribly infectious. If he was honest with himself, he really hadn’t even wanted to fight her at the end of it all. But then the urge returned tenfold when he looked at that final Time Piece… and now he understood, with a horrible sinking feeling, why he’d ended up going through with it.

His tail began unconsciously curling inward toward the little alien, and he released a heavy breath in defeat. “Kid, I’m… I’m sorry,” he said as he felt her start to shake with a new wave of quiet sobs. He looked down to see tears coating her cheeks and desperately attempted to wipe away as much as he could with the backside of his claw.

She blinked at his hand with a gentle whimper, then pulled her eyes up to meet his, lip quivering as she looked at him with a mixture of pain and understanding. “I-it wasn’t your fault,” she sniffled. “You didn’t mean it. I know you didn’t… You aren’t that mean.” Her eyes suddenly gained a tiny mischievous sparkle, and she let out a weak giggle. “I always knew you were a softie, BFF.”

Instantly, he felt his face flush with a yellow glow, and her giggles grew louder as he jerked his hand away from her cheek. “H-hey!” he roared defensively. “Just because I’m deciding to _humor_ you by being _nice_ for once doesn’t mean you get to go throwing accusations around like that.” He huffed and looked out at the stars, desiring anything other than eye contact. “I-I just don’t like seeing a kid cry, alright?”

Hat kid laughed, playfully pressing a hand to his chest. “Aw, you _do_ care.”

“I do _not!_ ” He growled, dragging a flustered claw down his face.

She giggled again, this time trailing off into a deep yawn, and Snatcher realized he’d completely forgotten just how exhausted the kid must be. Running around putting herself in danger for that many hours, followed by so much crying… she must be just about ready to pass out at this point.

“You really should get to bed, kid,” he said with a sigh, his expression softening again as she blinked up at him. _Her eyes aren’t so dull anymore._ “You can’t keep burning the candle at both ends forever, you know.”

Hat Kid hummed quietly in consideration, leaning her cheek against his chest. He could tell she wanted to be stubborn, but her eyes looked so heavy that he knew she wouldn’t be able to resist for long anyway, and he could tell she knew that too. “Yeah…” she finally admitted with a groan. “I guess.”

Snatcher gently picked her up and set her on her wobbling feet, chuckling when she whined in protest, her hands trying to grasp at his mane as she was pulled away. “Alright, alright, enough with the sap, you’re lucky you even got away with as much as you did.” When she gave him a pouty look, he scoffed and crossed his arms with a sarcastic indignance. “Oh, don’t gimme that look, I’m not a bed, kiddo. You’ve got one of those right over there.”

She hesitated, glancing down at her bed, then finally let out a long sigh and began trudging shakily down the carpeted ramp. Snatcher watched as she reached out to touch something on her nightstand, and the light in the room slowly faded to darkness, leaving only his indigo candles to cast a soft, flickering glow on the walls around his perch. Hat Kid simply stood at her bedside for a long moment, staring at the darkened blankets. Her shoulders slumped heavily as she took several deep breaths. Finally, she turned around to look at him again, an unmistakable loneliness having settled in her eyes, and Snatcher couldn’t help but feel a bit guilty for sending her away. He gave her an encouraging look, hoping she’d feel more confident with something other than the pushiness he’d just displayed.

However, instead of climbing into bed as he’d expected, she leaned forward and stumbled her way back up the ramp until she was at his side once again. Before he could protest, she’d dropped to the floor and crawled up to flop across his lap, whimpering as she desperately cuddled closer to him. Her body heat seeped soothingly into his ghostly form again, and her hat went lopsided as it brushed against his recoiled arms.

“Please,” she breathed hurriedly as he tried to speak, “please let me stay.”

He looked down at her for a long moment, trying to summon the nerve to shoo her away, but her look of distress got the best of him, and he let out a long groan as his tensed arms dropped to his sides. “ _Fine_ , fine… but just this once, you hear me?” he muttered, her relieved expression softening his heart once again. She really did have quite the effect on him, didn’t she? Gently, he plucked the hat from her head in one claw and used the other to run a careful hand through her hair, and she immediately leaned into his touch with a content hum, her eyes finally fluttering shut.

“Thank… you…” she murmured softly with the small sliver of strength she had left, and her body went limp almost instantly. Snatcher couldn’t help but smile as her breaths quickly slowed into a peaceful rhythm.

“...Don’t sweat it, kiddo.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, and comments are always highly appreciated!


End file.
